CBSE pupils oppose 85% MBBS quota for Tamil Nadu board students

Senior counsel representing the CBSE students, Nalini Chidambaram and P S Raman, made the submission to a division bench of Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao and Justice M Dhandapani, which was hearing an appeal the government moved against the single judge’s order of July 14.Sureshkumar | TNN | Updated: July 21, 2017, 09:53 IST

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government notified reservation of 85% of MBBS seats for state board students to serve the interest of private institutions, counsels for a group of CBSE students said in the Madras high court on Thursday, opposing an appeal moved by the government against an order by a single judge of the court that quashed the quota.

Senior counsel representing the CBSE students, Nalini Chidambaram and P S Raman, made the submission to a division bench of Justice Nooty Ramamohana Rao and Justice M Dhandapani, which was hearing an appeal the government moved against the single judge's order of July 14.

In the past 10 years, only 340 students from rural government state board schools have secure medical seats, proving that the government was wrong to say it was safeguarding the interest of rural state board students through reservation, they said.

Senior counsel N L Rajah, representing state board students, countered by saying, "Even those 340 students would not have secured seats if the government does not provide such schemes."

Senior counsel P Wilson, also arguing on behalf of the state board students, said the government is entitled to treat state board and CBSE students differently.

"The state board and CBSE follow different syllabi, methods of teaching and methods of examination," he said. "[With] the state board being different from CBSE, and NEET conducted solely on the basis of the CBSE syllabus, state board students are at a disadvantage."

Wilson argued that the government took its decision on reservation to provide students with a level playing field. The advocate general had earlier submitted that the government is obliged to make provisions to protect the interests of the vast majority of students, who are from the state board.